評論
打印
Finance and economics
財經商業
Reforming the World Bank
世界銀行，亟待重整
Zen and the art of poverty reduction
禪宗思想及扶貧藝術
Calm and confusion at the world's biggest development institution
世界最大發展機構—平靜與騷亂并存
THE World Bank may need a period of quiet reflection, but this was ridiculous.
世界銀行可能需要一段時間來安靜的反思，但這在過去是荒謬可笑的。
On September 10th 300 bankers joined Thich Nhat Hanh, an 87-year-old Vietnamese monk and founder of the Order of Interbeing, for a day of mindful meditation with Jim Kim, the bank's president and an admirer of Mr Hanh.
九月十日，300名銀行家以及世界銀行行長吉姆金同現年87歲的越南高僧一行禪師進行了為期一天的靜心冥想的活動。一行禪師創立了相即共修團，且吉姆金是他的崇拜者之一。
It was all very Zen, one member of staff told the Washington Post.
一切都彌漫著佛教氣息，其中一位銀行家對華盛頓郵報如是說。
Afterwards, Mr Hanh and 20 brown-robed brethren led a walking meditation through Washington—though since the traffic police did not show up, the quiet contemplation was marred by the not-so-Zen honking of angry drivers.
在這之后，一行禪師和其他20名身穿棕色長袍的同胞們在華盛頓進行了步行禪修的活動。但由于在行進過程中沒有交通警察維持秩序，這場安靜的冥想被不那么禪的憤怒司機的喇叭聲所打擾。
Mr Hanh says he believes in the power of aimlessness and thinks civilisation is threatened by voracious economic growth. Mr Kim does not. He is trying to give the bank a sharper focus.
一行禪師說，他深信無目的的力量，認為貪得無厭的經濟增長威脅著現代的文明。吉姆先生但不這樣認為。他正嘗試著給與世界銀行一個更加清晰的重點。
In the unlovely words of a new strategy, endorsed by the bank's governors on October 12th, the group's value proposition is to end extreme poverty by 2030 and to foster income growth among the poorest 40% in every country, not just poor ones.
該組織的新策略價值觀主張在十月十二日受到世界銀行管理者的支持。該策略的并不討喜的語言表達了在2030年結束極端貧困并促進每個國家最貧窮的40%的人的收入增長，而不僅僅是窮人們。
The aim is to shake up the world's leading development body.
目的在于震撼這個世界上領導性的發展主體。
Since it began, the World Bank has run almost 12,000 projects in 172 countries.
自從該策略開始施行，世界銀行已經在172個國家運作了12000個項目。
But voracious economic growth in the past 25 years has meant that the bank's lending has fallen to less than 1% of the combined economic output of the borrowers.
但是過去25年突飛猛進的經濟增長已經意味著世界銀行的貸款在借款者復合經濟產量中所占比率應經下降到不足1%。
As more nations graduate to middle-income status and win access to capital markets for big development projects, fewer of them need the money and expertise the bank has to offer.
隨著越來越多的國家逐漸邁入中等收入行列并獲得進入資本市場有大發展項目的機會，越來越少的國家需要世界銀行提供的資金和技術。
Having a target for eradicating poverty aims to finesse this.
為消除貧困設定目標旨在細化貧困問題。
Extreme poverty is a global problem and would justify a global institution devoted to ending it.
極端貧困是一個全球問題，而且這個事實證明急需一個全球機制以期結束貧困問題。
One billion people live on less than 1.25 aday, most of them in what the bank calls middle-income countries such as India and Brazil.
目前有十億人口每天靠不足1.25美元生活，且他們中的大多數都居住在世界銀行所稱的總等收入水平的國家中，比如印度和巴西。
The bottom 40% includes a further 1.5 billion people.
還有15億人也屬于40%的生活在貧困線以下的人群。
So carving out a role in poverty eradication would make the bank relevant to middle-income countries even though their governments might not need its money any more and might think the bank has little to offer their growing middle classes.
所以銀行要在消除貧困中發揮作用，就意味著要與中等收入國家建立聯系。即使這些國家政府可能認為他們不再需要世界銀行的資金，而且覺得銀行對于他們這些正在發展中的中產階級沒有任何幫助。
How much difference the new strategy will make from day to day, though, is open to question.
但是這個新策略會日漸產生什么樣的作用仍然是一個未知數。
The bank is already supposed to be helping the poorest; the new goal marks only a shift in emphasis and, on the face of it, will not stop it doing most of what it is doing now.
世界銀行已經將目光著眼于援助最貧困的國家，新的目標只是標志著他們重心的轉移，而且從表面來看，該銀行也不會停止大多數現在正在做的事情。
The aim of eradicating extreme poverty by 2030 is not overly ambitious.
在2030年消除極端貧困的目標也并不過于盲目自信。
Recent data suggest the income of the bottom 40% has been growing as fast as, or faster than, the national average in most developing countries for 25 years.
最新數據表明，在過去的25年里40%的最貧困人口的收入的增長速度已經達到甚至超過大多數發展中國家的平均國民收入的增長速度。
So does the new approach matter?
所以新的方法還是那么重要么？
The rhetorical change probably does not, but the reorganisation which accompanies it might.
夸張驚人的變化似乎不太可能，但是隨之而來的重組還是可能會發生的。
For years, the World Bank has been organised along geographic lines.
這些年來，世界銀行一直根據地域區域來組織機構。
The regions control the budgets, hire the staff and dominate the bank.
這些區域性的內部機構控制的預算，雇傭員工和管理銀行。
They are also responsible for its reputation for being divided into silos: experts from different regions rarely talk to each other.
這些機構對他們封閉機構的名聲負責，即來自不同地方的專家甚少相互交流。
In an attempt to break this pattern, the bank is setting up 14 global practices which will cut across the regions.
為了打破這個固定模式，世界銀行建立起14項國際組織來將這些地區打破地域性。
The bank has also long been accused of doing too much.
世界銀行長久以來也被人們指責其過多的所作所為。
It runs a tiger-conservation project, for instance.
其經營的一個保護老虎的項目就是一個例子。
To provide clearer priorities, the plan proposes a new method for deciding what countries need.
為了規定更加清晰明了的先后順序，該計劃提出了一個新方法來決定一些國家需要什么幫助。
The idea is to diagnose the worst constraints on poverty reduction and focus mainly on those.
這個方法旨在找出減少貧困的最大絆腳石并幾種主要精力來解決這些問題。
When the bank ran a pilot country diagnostic for India, it found it needed to concentrate more of its efforts in the six poorest states.
當該行在印度首次進行鄉村診斷法時，其發現他們需要將他們的精力更多地集中于六個最貧困的邦郡。
The bank has a history, however, of grandiose reorganisations.
但是世界銀行的大規模改組已經由來已久。
One comes along every decade.
每十年就會發生一次。
They rarely achieve much.
但他們總是收效甚微。
There are several reasons why this shake-up might be no different.
此次改組可能并無多大變化，這有各方面的原因。
Diagnosing constraints sounds like an excellent idea.
找出約束改組的限制條件聽起來是一個絕妙的主意。
But it turns out that no sooner have you identified one supposedly crucial obstacle than another appears behind it.
但是事實證明問題層出不窮，你剛發現一個潛在的重大困難，另一個問題又開始浮現。
The model might not always give the clear guidance that it did for India.
這個模范實驗在印度所起的作用可能無法給其他地方一目了然的指導。
Neither is it certain whether the global practices are intended to be more important than the regional units, or whether the two are supposed to be evenly balanced, and if so, how.
國際實踐是否將會比區域行的團體更重要，或者二者被猜測可以平分秋色以及假如這一事實成立，各自應該怎樣發揮作用，這兩個問題到現在都無法確定。
Setting up global practices also risks turning the bank into a glorified McKinsey in which experts jet in to advise on a big project and jet out—a tendency for which development agencies are already rightly criticised.
建立一個全球性實踐行動意味著將冒著把銀行轉變成一個光輝閃耀的麥肯錫公司。該公司內的專家總是對于大型項目妄下論斷然后又突然抽離開來。這個趨勢已經使得許多發展機構備受爭議。
Then there are doubts about Mr Kim himself.
于是這使得吉姆先生本人也受到人們懷疑。
He has had a wobbly start since being foisted on the bank by the American government last year.
他上任時面臨著不利的工作局面，因為其去年被美國政府安插在世界銀行。
After winning over many at first, he found himself under attack this summer when senior people began leaving in a huff, or were fired, as the reorganisation took shape.
在開始收獲諸多人心之后，這個夏天隨著銀行重組逐漸成型，該行許多元老開始憤怒的辭職或解雇，他發現自己正處在風口浪尖處。
The grumbling has since died down, but confidence among employees looks shaky.
人們的怨聲載道有所平息，但是雇員們的信心看起來不容樂觀。
And what if the plan succeeds?
但是如果這項計劃大獲全勝呢？
Then the institution would face a different problem.
那么這個機構就會面臨著一個不同的問題。
If it is all about reducing poverty and extreme poverty is eradicated by 2030, what role would be left to it then?
如果這全部都是為了減少貧困而且在2030年極端貧困將不復存在，那么世界銀行還會有什么樣的作用呢？
No doubt it will think of something.
毫無疑問它會好好考慮一下了。
